£500 raised for Welsh Refugee Council
December 21, 2011
Following sales of the University of Glamorgan Christmas card, £500 has been donated to the Welsh Refugee Council.
On behalf of the charity, Daisy Cole received a cheque for £500 from Vice-Chancellor Julie Lydon.
This year’s card featured specially written verse from Glamorgan’s award-winning author and poet, Philip Gross:
“Winter stars, uncertain journey – strangers, anywhere…
The miracle of home.”
Philip said, “As a Quaker, I see how all the world’s faiths and our common stock of stories speak of journeys and arrivals, and the principle of hospitality. As the son of a wartime refugee, I know something about people who must leave one home and find another. There will be many such journeys in the world in future, as there have been right back to the start of human history. In writing this verse for a University community of students and staff from many nations, of many faiths and none, I hope there is a message for us all.”
As befitting the theme of the verse, Philip nominated the Welsh Refugee Council to receive the donation generated from the sale of the cards. Philip’s own father arrived in the UK a refugee from Estonia after the second world war.
The Wales Refugee Council is a local, independent charity that empowers refugees to rebuild their lives in Wales.
